Pacific citizens: Though 50 years ago there was not much contact ...

Pacific Cooperation Foundation: Just as the Asia 2000 Foundation was ...

Tackling Pacific Island problems from within the Parliament: Strategic thinking about ...

The agenda: THEN: Social issues were important ...

Improving partnership: There is a need to revive the Pacific Islands ...

Tackling blindness among Pacific peoples: Tongan public health specialist ...

HIV AIDS - moral and medical solutions: Public health and other policy planners...

Tongan job solution: Managed employment is a Tongan New Zealander's private ...

The new tertiary landscape - what's in it for Pacific peoples?: Education is ...

Making good citizens: In our Pacific region, and elsewhere in the world ...

Involving Pacific peoples in local decisionmaking: The question all New Zealand ...

Tangata Pasifika? Michael Powles, who has worked ...

Endorsing good governance: Former New Zealand career diplomat Gordon Schroff ...

Need not be conflict: Issues in Pacific governance - where one size does not ...

Cooperation wins: Greater regional cooperation on common issues might ...

APEC and PECC: Though New Zealand seeks to be a good international ...

Advocacy on market access: The Pacific Islands Trade and Investment ...

Being Pa'alagi: The Being Pa'alagi programme, in which I looked back ...

Collaboration key to achieving vision: The vision of the Ministry of ...

Talk to all pacific cultures with one voice:
Ethnic Communications

The new tertiary landscape – what’s in it for Pacific peoples?

Education is the pursuit of worthwhile learning for cultural maintenance and continuity. Cultural development provides the basis of other kinds of development – social, economic and community, says Prof K Helu-Thaman, University of the South Pacific.

Pacific peoples have always aspired to quality participation and achievement in education, particularly tertiary education. Despite this, Pacific peoples in New Zealand have experienced limited success in every sector of education. Together the Pasifika Education Plan and the Tertiary Education Strategy hold the key to turning this around so that Pacific peoples, like all New Zealanders, can enjoy economic and social prosperity.

The new tertiary education landscape encompasses all learning that occurs after school, and the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) is playing a key role in building education pathways that meet the needs of all New Zealanders, including those who identify as Pacific peoples.
“ We will know that we are making progress when more Pacific learners are enrolling in and gaining high-level generic and specialist skills,” says TEC chair Dr Andrew West.

TEC is responsible for giving effect to the Tertiary Education Strategy, a strategy that was developed after extensive consultation with stakeholders, including Pacific peoples.

Strategy Five of the Tertiary Education Strategy is to “educate for Pacific peoples’ development and success” and has four key objectives:
u to encourage and help Pacific learners develop skills that are important to the development of both the Pacific and New Zealand;

• a tertiary education system that is accountable for improved Pacific learning outcomes and connected to Pacific economic aspirations;
• to help Pacific education services increase their capability and enhance Pacific people’s learning opportunities; and
• an increased proportion of Pacific staff at all levels of decision-making in the tertiary education system.

Six months into its operations, the TEC has launched an internal project to develop its own Pacific Peoples Strategy.

“ This will contribute to the development of our organisational capability and our ability to respond effectively to Pacific peoples' issues in tertiary education and training,” Dr West said.

Project manager Anna Pasikale, who was born and raised in Fiji, is leading the development of this strategy. The work will focus initially on identifying TEC’s capacity to respond to Strategy Five, after which areas for priority development and investment will be explored.

“ We are consulting with key external stakeholders to ensure alignment with Pacific peoples’ aspirations,” Ms Pasikale said.

“ This includes establishing an external reference group which will comprise Pacific peoples with interest and expertise in tertiary education (including community providers, PTEs, polytechnics, universities, and colleges of education) alongside a managed consultation with other key and interested Pacific peoples groups”.

“ Ultimately, the TEC’s Pacific Peoples Strategy will achieve outcomes which enhance Pacific peoples'inclusion, development, and success in tertiary education.”

The Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs and Pule Ma’ata Pasifika, Ministry of Education will also be involved in the governance for the project.

TEC's Pacific Strategy Group debate their mission

Published 3rd qtr, 2003

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